FDIC Board Approves Final Rule to Amend Official Signs and Advertising Requirements

On January 22, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) approved a final rule amending regulations governing the display of the FDIC official digital sign and non-deposit signage. In response to questions regarding implementation of requirements adopted in 2023, this final rule narrows when and where banks must display the FDIC official digital sign and non-deposit signage on digital channels, including bank websites, mobile applications, ATMs, and similar devices. The final rule focuses signage requirements on screens and pages where disclosures are most relevant to consumers and provides banks with additional flexibility with respect to design and placement of the FDIC official digital sign. Compliance is required by April 1, 2027.

On January 22, the FDIC approved amendments to the agency’s Guidelines for Appeals of Material Supervisory Determinations, replacing the existing Supervision Appeals Review Committee (SARC) with an independent, standalone Office of Supervisory Appeals (Office). The Office will be staffed by reviewing officials, appointed for fixed terms, including at least one reviewing official with industry experience, defined as having worked at a bank or for a company providing bank or banking-related services. The Office will report directly to the FDIC Chairperson’s Office. More information on the Office’s reviewing officials is expected to be published on the FDIC’s website.

On January 22, the FDIC conditionally approved de novo deposit insurance applications for Ford Credit Bank and GM Financial Bank, respectively. Both banks will be Utah-chartered industrial banks, focused on automotive financing nationwide. Among the conditions imposed on each bank are requirements to maintain a minimum tier 1 capital to assets leverage ratio of 15%, and the banks’ respective parent companies will be required to support their capital and liquidity positions.

On January 30, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation closed Metropolitan Capital Bank & Trust, the first bank in the nation to fail this year with an estimated cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund of $19.7 million. The FDIC was appointed as receiver and entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with First Independence Bank, under which First Independence agreed to purchase nearly all of Metropolitan’s assets and assume substantially all of its deposit liabilities. Metropolitan’s sole banking office will continue to operate as a branch of First Independence. Depositors of Metropolitan automatically became depositors of First Independence, with FDIC insurance continuing without interruption. For more resources related to bank failures, please visit Goodwin's Bank Failure Knowledge Center.

On February 4, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System finalized 2026 supervisory stress test scenarios leaving them largely unchanged from those proposed in October 2025. The scenarios will apply to the 32 largest US banking organizations and include a severe global recession with heightened stress in real estate and corporate debt markets. In the same action, the Board voted to maintain existing stress capital buffer (SCB) requirements through 2027 while it reviews public comments on proposed stress testing model changes and transparency enhancements. Public comment remains open on proposed scenario design and disclosure enhancements related to the stress testing program. The Board’s final notice is effective February 15.